Siege of Durazzo (1127)

The Siege of Durazzo was a second failed attempt by the Byzantine Empire to capture Durazzo from the Republic of Venice.

Background
In the 1100s, the Byzantine Empire and Republic of Venice fought over the Mediterranean coastal regions and The Balkans, pitting two major trade powers against each other. Volkanos Metochites and a Byzantine army attempted to reconquer Durazzo from the Venetians a year earlier in 1126, but had failed due to poor command and poor quality of units. A new army under Captain Manouel was dispatched to attack the city with a new and smaller Byzantine army, facing a much larger Venetian army.

Siege
The Venetians sortied out of the city, led by Barbus Selvo, and delivered a decisive assault with Sergeant Spearmen and other soldiers. Selvo and his army attacked the Byzantine militiamen and routed them, putting them to flight with only 60 losses. Only 960 Byzantines out of nearly 2,000 troops escaped from the massacre.